The Malik Report

Updated w/ more Cleary/Nyquist/Andersson talk, and Paul noted the Brunner scuttlebutt as well: I kind of collapsed last night, so I apologize for the lateness of these updates:

MLive's Brendan Savage spoke to Red Wings GM Ken Holland about the statuses of restricted free agents Gustav Nyquist and Joakim Andersson, and Holland told Savage that he hasn't begun negotiations with either player yet (as he told me on Thursday, he's not concerned about Brendan Smith filing for arbitration), but he is confident that deals will be worked out with both...

"I haven't really begun" negotiating, Holland said Friday night after the Development Camp scrimmage at Centre Ice Arena. "I talked with Nyguist's agent Monday or Tuesday. We haven't talked since. I played telephone tag with Andersson's agent. If somebody puts in an offer sheet, we'll match."

Nyquist and Andersson teamed with Damien Brunner to give the Red Wings a formidable third line down the stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs, when Detroit eliminated No. 2 seed Anaheim in seven games during the first round of the Western Conference playoffs before losing in overtime of Game 7 against the Blackhawks.

Nyquist had three goals and three assists in 22 regular-season games while Andersson had three goals and five assists in 38 games.

During the playoffs, Nyquist had two goals and three assists in 14 games while Andersson had a goal and four assists.

Holland also sounded...Let's say a little conflicted, as I heard him speak with Savage...regarding Daniel Cleary's future with Detroit given that the Wings would need to both clear salary cap space and a spot off the 50-man roster to re-sign him:

"I don't know that it's done," Holland said. "We were just talking about it. We'd love to have him on the team. We think he's a versatile player. I made him an offer prior to free agency. He didn't think it was enough. If we wake up in the next two days and he's signed (by another team), I'd certainly understand. If he stays out there and he's available and we're able to do some things, then we might have something for him."

And while I was catching up on some much-needed sleep, the Neue Luzerner Zeitung's Nicola Berger posited the following Tweet...

Berger covers EV Zug of the Swiss League, where Brunner played for five seasons. Before the NHL lockout ended this year, Brunner was leading the Swiss League in scoring and one of his EZ Zug teammates was Red Wings' captain Henrik Zetterberg, who helped persuade him to sign in Detroit.

In 44 games with the Red Wings last season, Brunner had 12 goals and 14 assists. He was their leading goal scorer in the playoffs with five in 14 games while adding four assists to finished tied on the team's scoring chart with Pavel Datsyuk.

Daniel Cleary remains out there and could still be back with the Wings, but only if they’re able to clear salary-cap space before signing him.

“I don’t know that it’s done,” Holland said. “We’d love to have him on the team. We think he’s a versatile player. I made him an offer prior to free agency. He didn’t think it was enough.”

Teams can go 10-percent over the salary cap during the offseason, but that’s something Detroit appears doesn’t want to do.

“If we wake up in the next two days and he’s signed (by another team), I’d certainly understand,” Holland said. “If he stays out there and he’s available and we’re able to do some things, then we might have something for him.”

Nyquist, Andersson won’t be leaving If any NHL team wants to extend an offer sheet to either Nyquist or Andersson they go, but the Wings are going to match it.

“If a team puts in an offer sheet, we’ll match,” Holland said.

Nyquist and Andersson are both restricted free agents and talks have yet to begin on new deals, but will take place sometime in the near future. Both played pivotal roles this postseason that saw the Wings force a Game 7 with the Stanley Cup champ Chicago Blackhawks. Nyquist had two goals and three assists, while Andersson had a goal and four assists.

Comments

And he penned an article suggesting that the Devils may be able to pay Brunner $3.5 million per season to replace llya Kovalchuk.

That gave me a good chuckle. Only thing Brunner has in common with Kovi is that they never thought they had to or could back check. I saw somewhere in a Devils article that Brunner would add grit to the Top 6. Maybe they read Sheehy’s Hockey Bio???

The problem with Brunner is that he thinks he a top 3 forward, and thinks that his numbers were held down (and therefore $) by putting him on the 3rd line where he belonged. Brunner will never be a top 3 forward until he puts in the time learning that defense is part of the game. There 50 guys that CAN score 30 goals. But to score 30 goals and WIN, because they are defensively responsible. Well. there are about 6 of them that I can think of, and two of them are Red Wings.

About The Malik Report

The Malik Report is a destination for all things Red Wings-related. I offer biased, perhaps unprofessional-at-times and verbose coverage of my favorite team, their prospects and developmental affiliates. I've joined the Kukla's Korner family with five years of blogging under my belt, and I hope you'll find almost everything you need to follow your Red Wings at a place where all opinions are created equal and we're all friends, talking about hockey and the team we love to follow.